In recent years, mobile communication services have expanded and increased in popularity, around the world. Many advanced networks offer wireless mobile communication service for voice calls, mobile messaging services (e.g. text and/or multimedia) and data communications. In parallel with the expansion of services offered by mobile communication networks, new types of devices have been developed that make exclusive use of the data communications services offered by the networks. These devices, which include wireless modems and other machines (e.g., vending machines, parking meters, . . . ), communicate with remote servers using data communication links established through the mobile communication network.
Mobile phones and other devices equipped for communication through mobile communication networks have mobile device numbers (MDNs) or mobile subscriber integrated services digital network numbers (MSISDNs) which are used to uniquely identify the devices on the network. The MDNs or MSISDNs are used to identify and address the devices when setting up voice calls. The MDNs or MSISDNs are similarly used to register devices for data communications, and to allocate internet protocol (IP) addresses for the devices. In devices that are not configured for voice call or messaging services on a network, the MDNs and MSISDNs are thus only used to register the devices for data communications and obtain IP addresses.
As the variety and number of devices on mobile communication networks increase, network operators may run out of MDNs and MSISDNs to allocate to customers' mobile devices. A need therefore exists for enabling devices to register with the network, and to be allocated packet-based addresses (e.g., IP addresses such as IPv6 addresses) for use in data communications on the network, using fully-qualified domain names (FQDNs) to identify themselves on the network. Such registrations may enable mobile devices not having mobile devices numbers (e.g., MDNs and/or MSISDNs) to register with the network. A need further exists for providing the allocated packet-based address for such devices to internet-connected servers, so as to enable the servers to transmit IP communications to the devices.